It’s that time of year again! And bloggers are taking advantage of the holidays to help grow their blog. Your audience is suddenly much more interested in Christmas crafts and winter recipes, and they have a lot more downtime during vacations to read your blog. Try some of these blog post ideas to help you write the perfect holiday post!

Reminisce on some of your favorite Christmas memories. This could be a great #ThrowbackThursday type of post. Include pictures from your childhood.

Talk about how you work to make the holidays more spiritual or meaningful for your family. The commercial parts of Christmas are fun, but lots of people like to spend this time of year giving back to the needy in their community or turning to their religious beliefs.

Create a post on how to stay in a budget this holiday season. It’s easy for us to get carried away with buying expensive gifts for our loved ones; if you have a method for keeping yourself from over-spending, share it!

If you’re going on vacation for the holidays, write a how-to post on how you saved up for the big trip, how to pack for your kids, how to manage children on airplanes or long car drives, the best places to go for the holidays, and more.

Write a post about your local area and how they celebrate the holidays. Include lists of winter activities, like the best places to see Santa or go ice-skating.

Gather a list of your favorite charity organizations to donate to. Lots of people like to give back during the holidays, but are also wary of where they should donate; they worry about how much of each dollar actually goes to the cause they care about, or if the money they give actually makes a difference. If you volunteer during the winter, spotlight that organization to give it a boost.

Tell the readers about your most unique or special traditions.

Give advice on how you manage the holiday season. How do you decide which family members to visit? How do you stay sane if you have family staying at your house? How do you plan your Christmas dinner?

What kind of posts do you write about during the holiday season? Share in the comments below!

Every writer has experienced writer’s block. For bloggers, you have the constant pressure to come up with fresh content, often with the added stress of your audience having access to all of your writing history on one website. It’s especially difficult for business or niche bloggers to find a new topic or angle, because their choices are often limited. However, it is possible to create endless content for any industry. All you have to do is find the right inspiration.

There are a few different places I go to for inspiration, and I’m going to share them with you:

Create a newsfeed with your favorite websites and blogs. Bloglovin’, Feedly, Google Currents, and RSS readers can help you keep up-to-date with relevant, newsworthy websites.

Follow current events and pop culture. Take something that’s happening right now and put your industry spin on it.

Browse your social media accounts – just be careful not to get off track. Keep to hashtags relevant to you. Find the best posters in your field. You can also join communities full of people in your niche, talking and answering questions that you can use in a blog post. Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Google+, and more are all great sources of inspiration.

Use a title generator as a jumping-off point. InBoundNow and HubSpot both have helpful topic generators.

Use your Google Analytics to find out what your visitors are searching for when they come to your website. Sometimes the results will be random and unhelpful, and sometimes there will be genuine questions you can answer in a blog post.

Check Google Trends to find out the most popular searches each day.

Look through Reddit, particularly subfeeds related to your topics. People ask and answer lots of questions – find a question that you can answer more thoroughly in a blog post. Or find a common frustration that you can address.

Ask your audience what questions they have or what they want to hear more about. You can do this through social media posts.

Research a question you have about your industry, or learn about something you’ve always wanted to know more about. Share your findings with your readers.

Imagine you’ve just stumbled upon your blog. In fact, do it right now. “Stumble” onto your blog and scan the page with fresh, unbiased eyes. I know it’s hard. If it’s too hard, ask someone else to do it (someone who’s never seen it before) and have them tell you off-the-cuff what they see. What are the immediate responses popping into their head?

This exercise should inform you what could be wrong with your site, at least on the surface level. And surface level issues typically require surface level fixes, which are your low-hanging fruit.

Is your blog arresting the attention of your casual visitor? Does it provoke engagement and social sharing amongst your readers? If it doesn’t, it’s failing to serve its purpose as a content marketing initiative and component of your SEO strategy.

Is your writing turning people off?

Perhaps a quarter of the battle is visual. Your test visitor might tell you what they like and don’t like visually on your blog, which will inform you on some stylistic tweaks that you can implement with relative ease. But after that initial 10 seconds, what do you think they’ll consider next? Bingo—your headlines.

It’s a given that your company blog, depending on your industry, will have a tendency toward salesy roboticness, and it will be one of your greatest struggles to write in a compelling way on potentially wooden topics. This is where your intrinsic creativity as a writer should take center stage and stretch your blog to territories that will engage and captivate your readers.

Quick tips on effective writing:

Cultivate a simple, personable voice. Blog is short for weblog—a personable tone is expected.

Keywords should occur naturally and sparingly.

Pick your topics based on what you know, or have researched thoroughly.

Pick your topics based on what your readers know (or don’t know) they need to know. You’ll be the one to convince them of that “need.”

A Few Angles to Consider

As you’re considering topics or angles to liven up your blog, think of these techniques:

Interview posts are engaging and unique. Candidates could be experts within your organization or colleagues.

Tell a story about a client or personal anecdote that illustrates your product or services in action and the results.

Make a customer profile that hypothesizes on their likes, dislikes, fears, demographic, etc., and use it to inform your tone, topics, and style.

On a scale of 1 through 10, how would you rate the engagement level of your blog?

Earlier this month, comedian and actor Jim Carrey spoke to the graduating class of Maharishi University of Management, and a portion of his speech has now gone viral. So what did he say that prompted so many people to click “share”?

First he observed how guided by fear we are as a society.

“So many of us choose our paths out of fear disguised as practicality,” he said, pointing out the hard truth that we daily try to suppress—that even though our comfort zones are limiting, even restraining, we still choose them on a regular basis.

Why?

Well, comfort zones are comfortable. That goes without saying. The fear of venturing outside of a comfort zone is greater than the shame of stagnancy and unfulfilled dreams.

But Carrey’s father chose the safe path, and it failed him in the end. When Carrey was twelve, his father, an aspiring comedian who’d become an accountant, lost his job and the family struggled to survive. Carrey learned then that even the “safe” route is never guaranteed.

“You can fail at what you don’t want,” Carrey said to the Maharishi graduates, “so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

Change Your Path Today

Even if you’ve seen the video, the odds are good that you haven’t really changed a thing about your day-to-day life to incorporate his advice.

Here are three baby steps just to get the wheels churning and the momentum rolling. Think of them as exercises in self-analysis and motivation.

Step One: Revisit Your Childhood Dream

This is just a memory exercise. We all got the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” So how did your elementary-school-self respond to it? Sometimes we were fed answers like “astronaut” or “president,” but other times we were obsessed with animals and learned the word “zoologist” or “paleontologist” in order to impress the adults that asked us.

Now ask yourself: when were the moments that this answer changed and changed again? What inspired those changes? Follow that train to your passions. Write them down as you go. Circle the ones that still excite you.

Step Two: Edit Your Daily, Weekly, Monthly Routine

Now you’re going to take a seat and write down your schedule for the week. You’ve got your day job on there, possibly school, and the gym. This can be a loose schedule, but take account of your regular routine as it is now. Once that schedule is created, write up your ideal schedule, the one that has you waking up at 7 every morning and going on a run.

Now, take your passion (the one you determined in Step One) and turn it into something you can do for 1 hour every day, or every other day, whichever is most feasible. For example, if you want to be a chef, learn a new recipe in that timeslot. If you want to be a magician, watch online tutorials, practice for your pets or children, but do something that will help you improve.

No one’s making you sign up for classes just yet, but no one’s stopping you from honing your craft on your own either. Do what makes you happy. Remember, these are baby steps, and your confidence will grow as you spend more time working on your craft.

Step Three: Go Out on a Limb

Once you’ve got steps two and three under your belt and in motion, it will be time to do something just a little scarier. Sticking with the examples from Step Two, if you’re an aspiring chef, host a dinner for your extended family or list of friends. Make it a formal event with a full lineup of courses that you’ve personally created. Prepare surveys for your guests to provide honest feedback.

For you would-be magicians, organize a show for the neighborhood and prepare a half hour set to showcase your learned skills. Make sure you film it to start building your portfolio and tracking your progress.

Remember: You Are Your Most Formidable Barrier

You’re going to receive feedback from others whether or not you ask for it, but the critique that will matter the most is what you tell yourself every morning and night. Be your best and most loyal cheerleader, because no one is going to care about your dream more than you.

If you woke up financially independent tomorrow, what is the first new (or old) skill you would begin learning or perfecting?

It takes certain qualities to be a freelance writer, but if you’ve determined that you have what it takes, the next step is getting started. Here are a few practical and critical things to do as you break into a competitive, oversaturated field:

Don’t be too proud to ask for help

Constantly build your portfolio

Finding clients is a priority

Determine a niche and perfect it

Don’t expect overnight success

Ask for Help

Think about your writing preferences and expertise. Determine your style and niche and then reach out to individuals or clubs for guidance, tips, and even hookups to potential clients and gigs. A simple Google search will point you to such resources. Don’t forget to tap into your social media connections as well. Networking is an invaluable tool in business that you certainly should leverage in freelance writing.

How is Your Portfolio Looking?

So the big question is: How do you start a portfolio if you’ve never written professionally before? When you’re competing against established writers for work, your blank portfolio isn’t going to look to enticing to prospective clients. First, take a look at a few of these sites designed especially to host writers’ portfolios: portfolio sites.

Content pieces that are suitable for inclusion in your portfolio: press releases, web copy, marketing flyers, posters, blog posts, white papers, academia, even creative work. Imagine yourself as a website owner. What would you look for in a freelance writer? You want someone who can demonstrate an understanding of your field, writing skill, comprehension of grammar, and further than that, a proven ability to convert. Include any positive praise or feedback you have received. If you’re just starting out, that may be from professors, but it will still look good to prospective clients.

Next, work your way through this list to start accumulating your best work to put up on your portfolio:

Seek out opportunities to write for friends or colleagues

Compile your best academic or personal creative work

Write mock copy (content you’ve imagined for your client or a made up company)

Write guest blogs or opinion pieces to submit to online magazines (it doesn’t have to be published to include in your portfolio. It just has to be your original work.)

Determining what you’re worth is important, and don’t sell yourself short. Heavily research freelance writing rates (definitely talk to your new mentor friends about this too), and establish your rate to start charging.

Get used to asking, “Do you know anyone in need of a good writer?” Also, there’s nothing wrong with seeking out exactly what you want to do and write. Now that you have a portfolio, you can reach out to a client you would love to write for and provide them a link to your portfolio. Even if they don’t respond, it was a worth a shot, and the more direct queries you send out, the more chances you’ll have at getting a positive response.

Eventually, as you take on more and more gigs, you’re going to start learning about yourself as a writer. You’ll become more and more familiar with the types of gigs you like most and which you do best at. Your portfolio is going to start showing a strong inclination toward a particular vein and you can start directing your search for new gigs in that direction as well. Before you know it, you’ll be a specialist in a particular kind of copy.

Raise your rates, advertise yourself as an expert, and start honing in on the advantages of having a specialty niche.

Overnight Success is a Fluke

Freelance writing isn’t going to be your full-time job right out of the chute. You may not even want it to be, but if you do, set realistic expectations for the income you will be making as you start out. Make plans to supplement and then with hard work, allow yourself to grow. Soon enough, your results will be commensurate with your efforts and you’ll find yourself juggling gigs.

In fact, here are a few tips to stay organized, since at this point in your journey, you’ll be an established freelance writer.

What has been your greatest hang-up in your freelance writing journey? Share in the comments!

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In previous posts, we covered a few of the essential qualities and tips new freelance writers needs to know and possess in order to be successful. These included:

Qualities

Writing skills

Self-editing skills

Quick turnaround

Job satisfaction

Tips

Don’t be too proud to ask for help

Constantly build your portfolio

Make finding new clients a priority

Determine a niche and perfect it

Don’t expect overnight success

In this post, we’ll talk about a few more things that new freelance writers need to incorporate into their practices and philosophies as they embark on the journey to become established, profitable writers.

As a freelancer, any other qualifications besides experience and ability simply don’t matter. In Tice’s words, “If you can get the story and tell it so we want to read it, you’re in.” No one will hire you for a gig solely because you have a master’s degree, and a master’s degree alone isn’t going to make you feel qualified. Remember that and keep writing, because practice and experience is going to be what gives you the edge in the end.

Find a Mentor

When you make knowledgeable connections, exploit them—in the best way possible! Tap into their expertise, ask questions, and be precocious. It’s the aspiring writer that seeks out and absorbs knowledge that makes it to the finish line.

Write Your Way Into a Niche

If you’re writing what you enjoy, you’re not only expanding on your expertise in that area, but you’re building your portfolio that proves your expertise to prospective clients. Build a strong case for yourself by backing up your experience with previously published work.

Don’t Be Scared!

Tice gives some funny advice: “Think of something scarier than writing an article, and it’ll be a breeze by comparison!” For example, you could be waiting tables instead, so cozy up in front of your computer and do what you love—write! Don’t allow the scope of the assignment daunt you either; just do it and chalk up the results (whether positive or negative) to experience. All experience is positive depending on your perspective.

Stay Focused!

Maintain focus on what you love to do and time will fly. As it passes, your experience will grow. Also,stay organized! As you take on more and more gigs, you’ll need to be in order to be successful.

Any comments on what you’ve done to pave your way as a freelance writer?

As a writer, being new to the online writing game is overwhelming. The Internet churns out content on a constant basis—bad, good, and great—and figuring how to insert our voices and where (and then get paid for it) seems like a colossal and intimidating task.

Finding success in writing online will require networking, contributing to and drawing from writing communities like Free Guest Post, and ultimately becoming prolific in what you do. Writers characteristically exist in their earliest stages within a shell of insecurities and inhibitions; we all need to undergo the process of de-shelling to begin contributing our art to the world.

To start, we have to detach our sensitivity from our art and let it become second nature. Writing must become to us what music is to the skilled musician: simply an outpouring of fluid notes, well-versed, well-practiced, and precise. It’s not just our art, but our marketable skill, as easily uncorked and accessible as a singer’s voice.

One way to learn how to do this is to listen to the stories of others who have done it, hear about their pitfalls and successes, and to mimic what worked for them.

Things to Remember as a Freelance Writer

Here are a few practical tips offered in a condensed version of a Q&A session with Billfold contributor, Nicole Dieker, who recently answered fan questions about freelancing processes and best practices.

Your pitch should fit the publication.Smaller publications will have individual submission guidelines that you’ll simply follow. You’ll want to have your piece finished beforehand. Larger publications will require more formality. A query letter will be more appropriate in this situation.

These days, finding the resources for work as an online freelance writer (blog writing, copy editing, and more) is a simple Google search away. Other writers are already doing exactly what you’re setting out to do, and they’re writing about how to do it. Just do some research and use the Internet for the purpose it was intended. To get you started, Dieker provides these two links: a.) Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing, b.) Make a Living Writing.

Ghostwriting comes in two sets: long-form and short-form. Long-form encompasses pieces like book and speeches, and the ghostwriter is credited for the work in the fine print. Short-form covers blog posts and similar pieces for another person’s brand and is published on their name. In this situation, the ghostwriter receives no credit, only compensation for the work. Generally, short-form ghostwriting is not a desirable or lucrative final destination. It should always be thought of as temporary. Seek out situations that allow you to use your own byline and receive credit for your work.

When trying to find a balance between writing for work and writing for pleasure, consider your bliss. Are you enjoying what you’re doing? What’s compelling you to write at all? Both sets will demand to be written in one way or another, and if you can seek out work-writing that you actually enjoy, even better!

Be pleasant. I was about to write professional, but the connotations with that word can mean stiff or formal, so I redacted. You can be fun and engaging, witty and controversial, without being unpleasant to work with. Understanding that healthy networking is key to your success, don’t use social media irresponsibly. Watch your writer’s tongue, which we all know craves the taste of sarcasm, and don’t burn bridges.

To the Keyboard!

The main trick to making it as a writer is to write. A lot. Be prolific, hone your craft, and let the words flow.

What resources have you found that have helped you the most as a freelance writer?

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Freelance writing isn’t for everyone, but it can be for you if you’re willing to hone specific skillsets that will allow you to succeed. It all depends on how much you want it.

That’s the first thing you need to do: ask yourself what your motivations actually are in becoming a freelance writer and if they’re sufficient to getting the job done.

So do you want it? If you do, the important thing to remember is that it’s possible; it’s not a field that bars entry arbitrarily. There aren’t tests to pass, certifications to purchase, or even degrees to earn in order to become a qualified freelance writer.

In fact, a degree isn’t necessary at all. It’s nice to have, especially when you’re trying to make your resume look as attractive as possible, but your potential clients are going to be paying more attention to your work portfolio, reputation, and recommendations than where you went to school and what you studied.

So What Do You Need?

We’ve covered what you don’t need: formal writing certifications. Now let’s discuss the four must-have qualities every successful freelance writer does need.

Writing skills

Self-editing skills

Quick turnaround

Job satisfaction

Writing Skills

Yeah, you’re gonna need these if you want to become a writer. Writing skills can be honed with practice, as with any type of skill, but if written communication has always been a struggle for you, you should probably ask yourself why you want to be a writer. The main thing is that you enjoy it; if you do, write prolifically, be receptive to feedback and criticism, capitalize on opportunities to write for others, and ultimately do what you need to do in order to improve your desired craft.

Remember that your clients will only be your clients if they are satisfied with your work. They will expect their freelance writer to write well.

Self-Editing Skills

As a freelance writer, you’re a writing department unto yourself. Quality Assurance is your responsibility. How good are you at proofreading your own work? This depends on how strong a grasp you have of grammar rules. You will need to be a proficient self-editor if you want to be a successful freelance writer; you cannot expect your clients to do this for you.

It’s always hard to see mistakes in a piece of work you’ve just finished, so manage your deadline schedule in such a way that you finish your writing projects with enough time before the deadline for you to revisit and revise the text with fresh eyes.

Quick Turnaround

Remember, there’s no shortage of freelance writers and anything that gives you an edge is a good thing. Oftentimes, this will be your turnaround speed. If you can write well and fast, you will become invaluable to your clients, especially the ones that often have strict, last-minute deadlines.

Luckily, this is also a skill that can be improved with practice. Whether your issue is with typing speed, inspiration, or simply writing flow, there are exercises you can do to type faster, generate creative and original ideas, and ultimately start and finish your projects quickly—all while maintaining a peerless level of quality.

Job Satisfaction

You need to like what you do. Can you do it full-time and still be satisfied? As a freelance writer, that is all you will be doing. It’s up to you to create some variety in the projects you take on, but the fact remains that you will be writing, writing, writing. If you don’t enjoy it at a root level, freelance writing may not be for you.

Conclusion

Have you found any other qualities to be essential as you’ve established yourself as a freelance writer? Share your experiences in the comments!

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Whether you’re a business blogger or a personal blogger, writing posts about your local area is aninvaluable SEO method. It’s much easier to dominate a keyword related to a geographical region than one without. For instance, you know that Googling “fast-food” will give you different search results than “fast-food in Smallville.” The same is true of any other location-keyword pairing.

Writing about your region is a great way to become a local authority, capture a new audience base, and give you something fun to blog about!

Here are some ideas for blog posts about your local area:

Write a review about a restaurant, museum, concert venue, movie theater, and other similar businesses. Be careful about going negative – this may help you gain some traffic, but it won’t do you any favors with the business itself. If you write a positive review for a business, you can share the post with that business and gain a new ally. A negative review will not have nearly the same advantages. Instead, leave any of your bad customer experiences out of your blog entirely.

Create a roundup of similar locations or activities. Include all the events happening in December or stores that sell the best gardening supplies.

Get nostalgic – if you’ve lived in the same place for a while, write about what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. Or write about your favorite ice cream store as a child.

Create a bucketlist of parks to visit or restaurants to try. As you complete each item, take pictures and do a small write-up.

Share some of your favorite haunts and locations. Talk about the coffee you are addicted to or the gym where you are most comfortable.

What kind of local posts do you write about for your blog?

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Every writer knows that in order to create effective copy, you need to understand your audience. What makes your target audience tick? What’s important to them? And how do they read?

Well, that last part depends entirely on the medium. A novel reader is going to approach the content of a new book differently than a blog follower will tackle the content of a blog they’ve just discovered. We scour magazines differently than we read newspapers, and so on.

A lot of it has to do with the layout, but one thing is common throughout: when we’re investigating a new piece of content, our eyes move quickly and linger on specific areas before committing to the full piece.

Here are seven habits of online readers that online writers should remember.

1. Online Readers Are Online Scanners

Like all investigative readers, online readers’ eyes will trace the page quickly, catching onto specific points of entry that they’ve learned will offer the best summary of information:

Headlines

Subheadings

Bulleted lists

Captions

Short, concise sentences and paragraphs

Bolded and italicized phrases

It’s important to include your most valuable information in these elements of your web copy. If your readers were to summarize your content in a few words, what would you want them to say? These phrases should stand out so that they’re easily consumed by your visitors.

2. Online Readers Are Niche Readers

By fully understanding the appeal of your blog—what brings people back again and again—you can more accurately cater to your specific audience. Whether your appeal is humor, valuable product reviews, organic recipes, DIY tips, etc., you need to understand who you’re writing for and refrain from deviating from that niche topic of interest. Remember that you can always create another blog if you want to try your hand at other topics.

3. Online Readers Respond Well to Visuals

Whenever possible and applicable, complement your written copy with other forms of media, videos, images, and infographics. Make sure the layout of your copy flows in a natural way, and that your color palette is also natural. Avoid anything that looks gimmicky or cheap (i.e. flashing text). Your visuals should be tasteful and understated. It should never distract from your message or copy, but add an element of interest. Blog posts with images tend to do much better than those without.

4. Online Readers Want You to Get to the Point

Online readers have especially short attention spans and they want their content to cut to the chase as much as possible. There’s not time for a story arc, only for the basics, which includes the 5 Ws: who, what, where, why, and when.

5. Online Readers Want to Laugh When It’s Appropriate

Humor is a good idea when used appropriately, but you need to keep in mind the object of your copy so that your creative liberties don’t distract from or confuse your message. You want your brand and copy to have a personality that readers can relate to, but don’t overdo it. Unless your blog is specifically categorized as humor, it may end up being off-putting to readers who are just looking for specific information.

6. Online Readers Will Click on Links

Make sure any links you include in your copy open up in a new tab so that your original page will always remain open for them to return to, but certainly don’t neglect linking out to your sources. Not only will this ensure giving credit where it’s due, but it will show your readers that you’re well-versed with online etiquette and are genuinely interested in their education on the topic.

What have you noticed about the way online readers behave as opposed to readers of print material?

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